All of FC Dayton's ECNL Players are required to participate in our Speed, Agility and Quickness (SAQ) Program.
FC Dayton’s WPSL coaching staff have designed and are implementing, with the assistance of current WPSL players, a Speed, Agility & Quickness (SAQ) program with an emphasis on preparing female players in the U14 to U19 age range, for the upcoming Club, High School, ECNL, College and WPSL seasons.
As an additional priority of the SAQ program, special emphasis will be placed on the prevention of knee injuries in female soccer players such as ACL injuries.
We provide a twice per week, SAQ Program designed to increase the:
· Speed, Agility & Quickness.
· Functional Ability.
· Plyometric Strength.
· ACL injury resistance.
Using an SAQ program designed by sports scientists, doctors and experts and delivered by our WPLS Head Coaches, you will see your ability to test and measure in the above 6 categories improve from day 1.
For more information please email bradley.schluter@fcdayton.org or register using the 'Register For Everything' Button below.
Why SAQ Program?
Research shows that SAQ programs are effective in increasing the strength of the muscles as well as the speed and the agility of the athletes.
Christopher W. Yap, CSCS and Lee E. Brown, MEd, CSCS*D talk in their studies of the effect of SAQ progams on ACL injury prevention in female soccer athletes:
"SAQ programs help to condition the lower body of female soccer athletes for the rigors of collegiate competition while decreasing their chances of an ACL injury....By implementing the use of SAQ, functional, and plyometric training principles....female soccer athletes may be better prepared for high-level play."
Speed
Simply put ‘Speed is the rapidity of movement.’
Top-level speed is important for a soccer player who must cover long distances at speed.
To develop speed one must, amongst other things, increase stride length, stride frequency, and hand/arm action.
Exercises that assist in speed development include:
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High knees.
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Glut kicker.
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Resisted running
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Short high-speed sprints.
Agility
Agility is the ability to maintain and control, correct body position and balance while quickly changing direction through a series of movements like dribbling, running with the ball or defending.
Exercises that improve agility, balance, coordination and control include:
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Agility ladder.
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Step hurdles.
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Ground hoops.
Like speed, your ability to stop, start and change direction can be trained. This is called agility.
Quickness
Quickness is the ability to read and react to a situation and is a multidirectional skill that combines explosiveness, reactiveness, and acceleration.
Again, all players on the soccer field benefit from quickness.
Exercises that improve foot quickness and reaction time include:
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Side strike box.
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Lateral/side stepper.
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Dot drills.
Functional Training
Functional Training involves acceleration, deceleration, and stabilization during multidirectional movement in all 3 planes (sagittal, frontal, and transverse), and must be proprioceptively challenging (WHAT???). Essentially players must learn to move and control their body through space in all three directions whilst speeding up and slowing down.
Exercises that improve Functional Training include:
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High step-up.
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Lateral crossover step-up.
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Rotational lunge and reach.
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Medicine ball chop.
Plyometrics
Plyometrics are the rapid deceleration of a mass followed immediately by rapid acceleration of the mass in the opposite direction.
Training has shown significant effects on knee stabilization and prevention of serious knee injury in female athletes.
Exercises that improve Plyometrics include:
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Skipping/ankle hops.
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Side-to-side box shuffle.
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Lateral box jumps.
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Lateral cone hops.
ACL Injury Resistance & Prevention
Don't just take our word for it, read what Dr Frank Noyes has to say about ACL injuries in women's sports.
“The increased risk of non-contact ACL injuries in women has been attributed to sex-based differences in lower-extremity anatomy such as a smaller ACL and generalized ligament laxity,” said lead author, Frank Noyes, MD, president and medical director of the Noyes Knee Institute and president of the Cincinnati SportsMedicine and Orthopaedic Center.
“Females also have different neuromuscular control and landing mechanics, and generally our female athletes are not strength trained as well as males.
